Where Are They Now: The Six Million Dollar Man



After winning the space race and being the first to put a person on the moon, the United States was excited about future space possibilities. Looking up to the sky and pondering the advancements of science was a common theme not only in the scientific field but also in the science fiction genre. One of the most lucrative productions of this energy was The Six Million Dollar Man.

Beginning in 1974 and running until 1978, it was an action adventure show filled with technological possibilities. The show began when Air Force Colonel Steve Austin suffered a horrific plane crash that threatened to take his life. With the guidance of Dr. Rudy Wells, Austin’s body was put back together, and enhanced with bionic implants. Using his new strength, speed, and other abilities, he became an instrument of the Office of Scientific Intelligence, fighting terrorists, mythical monsters, mad scientists, and every bad thing in between.

Playing the rough and rugged Steve Austin pushed Lee Majors into macho stardom. Born Harvey Lee Yeary, he earned a physical education degree from Eastern Kentucky University and was drafted to play football for the St. Louis Cardinals, but turned the offer down. In the midst of The Six Million Dollar Man, he married Farrah Fawcett, whose TV show Charlie’s Angels rivaled his for top-rating. Active in movies, Majors starred in Killer Fish, Agency, Keaton’s Cop, The Cover Girl Murders, Daytona Beach, Trojan War, The Protector, Here, Out Cold, Big Fat Liar, Guys, and is now filming The Adventures of Umbweki. He appeared on and starred in TV shows The Bionic Woman, The Love Boat, The Fall Guy, Tour of Duty, Raven, and Will & Grace. In 2003, he took a break from acting due to having a knee replacement and a single heart bypass surgery. Majors continues to act, often parodying his most famous character, Steve Austin.

After directing OSI as Oscar Goldman, Richard Anderson has remained in the public eye, both professionally and personally. He stuck with TV, appearing on The Bionic Woman, The Love Boat, Charlie’s Angels, Knight Rider, The Fall Guy, Fantasy Island, Cover Up, Simon & Simon, Dynasty, Murder, She Wrote, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, and Unhappily Ever After. His movie credits include The Retrievers, The Stepford Children, Gettysburg, and Breakout. Anderson is a longtime spokesperson for Kiplinger Newsletter and devotes a lot of time to the California Indian Manpower Consortium to advance education and job training of American Indians. He’s also a spokesperson for the National Fragile X Foundation, an organization bringing awareness about inherited causes of mental impairment.

Martin E. Brooks hung up his medical degree as Dr. Rudy Wells to pursue more spiritual avenues. Following The Six Million Dollar Man, he was on TV shows Quincy M.E., General Hospital, Dallas, Cagney & Lacey, Hunter, and Knots Landing and in the movies The Execution, T-Force, and Street Gun. In 1990, he became a Practitioner of Religious Science and turned to his passion for writing. His first published work, First Do Unto Yourself, offers spiritual and practical guidance to solving life’s problems. Epitaph for Danny Brown, the novel he is currently working on, will be published soon and his play Ever Beginning has been optioned by director Mark Rydell to be put on Broadway. Go to his website to learn more about Brooks and his writing projects.

The Six Million Dollar Man’s feminine counterpart was Jaime Sommers played by Lindsay Wagner. With enough acting power and panache of her own, Sommers starred in the series The Bionic Woman, for which she won an Emmy in 1977. She made many TV movies including Nighthawks, I Want to Live, Child’s Cry, Young Again, Nightmare at Bitter Creek, Fire in the Dark, A Message from Holly, Fighting for My Daughter, Thicker Than Water, and last year’s Four Extraordinary Women. In 1987, she wrote a series of books with Robert M. Klein about using acupressure to achieve facelift-like results. Currently, Wagner puts her energy into being on the board of directors of the Teen Talking Circle Project, whose goal is to teach teenagers about compassion, acceptance, about their opposite gender, as well as other races, and cultures. Learn more about Lindsay Wagner on her website.